DISCOURSES 


THE  INAUGURATION 


REV.  ALEXANDER   T.  M'GILL,  D.D., 


I'UOFESSOR    OF    PASTORAL    THKOLOGY,    CHURCH    GOVERNMENT, 
AND    THE    COMPOSITION    AND    DELIVERY    OP    SERMONS. 


THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY   AT   rRINCETON.   N.J. 


DKLIVEKED  AT  I'ltlNCETOX,  SKl'TEMBER  12,  1854.  BEFOKK 
THE  DIRECTORS  OF  THE  SEMINARY. 


THE  MINISTRY  WE  NEED. 

liY    THF.    IIKV.     NICHOLAS    MURRAY,   D.D.,  OF    KMZABETHTOWX,   N.   .1. 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY. 


BY    TIIK    RKV.    ALEXANDER    T.    M  GILL,     1).1> 


IMItl.I.SHKD    HV    REQUEST    UK    THE    IIOAHU    OK     lllKE(TOKS. 


PIIILADELIMIIA: 

C.    SHERMAN,   PRINTER. 

18  54. 


^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


BV  4010  .C57  1854 

Discourses  at  the 
inauguration  of  the  Rev. 


DISCOURSES 


THE  INAUGURATION 


REV.  ALEXANDER  T.  M'GILL,  D.D., 


TROFESSOR   OF   PASTORAL   THEOLOGY,    CHURCH   GOVERNMENT, 
AND   THE   COMPOSITION    AND    DELIVERY   OF    SERMONS, 


THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY   AT   PRINCETON,   N.J. 


DELIVERED  AT  PRINCETON,  SEPTEMBER  12,  1S54,  BEFORE 
THE  DIRECTORS  OF  THE  SEMINARY. 


I. 

THE  MINISTRY  WE  NEEP. 

BY   THE    UEV.    NICHOLAS   MCRRAT,  D.D.,  OF    EHZABETHTOWN,  N.  J. 
II. 

PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY. 

BY  THE  REV.  ALEX.1NDER  T.  M'GILL,  D.D. 


PUBLISQED  BY  REQUEST  OF.  THE  BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

C.   SHERMAN,  PRINTER. 

1854. 


THE    MINISTEY   WE    NEED 

A   DISCOURSE 


REV.  NICHOLAS  MURRAY,  D.D. 

OF   ELIZABETHTOWN,  N.  J. 


DISCOURSE. 


Reverexd  Directors  of  tue  Theological  Seminary, 
AND  Respected  Friends  of  this  Venerable  Insti- 
tution : 

We  are  here  assembled  for  the  performance  of  a 
most  solemn  and  important  duty.  To  the  chair 
which  Dr.  Alexander  filled  with  such  distinguished 
ability  for  about  forty  years,  and  which  was  left 
vacant  by  his  universally  lamented  death,  the  last 
General  Assembly  elected  the  Reverend  Alexander  T. 
M'Gill,  D.D.,  and  he  having  signified  his  acceptance 
of  the  appointment,  we  are  here  assembled  for  his 
inauguration.  And  by  my  brethren,  who  are  the 
agents  of  the  Assembly  in  the  direction  of  this  Insti- 
tution, it  is  made  my  duty  to  deliver  the  Charge  to 
the  newly-elected  Professor  on  the  present  occasion. 

It  is  expected  that  the  hour  devoted  to  this  service 
should  be  occupied  with  those  reflections  suited  to  the 
occasion ;   to  the  character  we  sustain ;   and  to  the 


6  THE    MINISTRY    T7E     NEED. 

relations  of  our  Theological  Seminary  to  the  world, 
which  is  to  be  restored  to  its  allegiance  to  God. 
mainly,  through  the  labours  of  the  ministry.  And 
the  topics  to  which  we  now  invite  your  attention  are 
The  Characteristics  of  an  Able  Minister  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  The  World's  great  need  of 
such  Ministers. 

The  word  "  minister"  means  a  servant ;  and  "  minis- 
try" means  service.  The  word  usually  translated 
minister,  Aidzw^oq,  is  the  name  given  in  the  ancient 
church  to  those  who  collected  alms  for  the  poor,  and 
distributed  them ;  but,  when  connected  with  the  words 
Kptaroo,  0SOO,  EayysX'oo,  and  the  like,  it  means  religious 
instructors,  or  preachers  of  the  gospel.  Yet  the  lead- 
ing character  of  a  minister  is  that  of  a  servant,  and  the 
ministry  is  a  service  of  a  special  kind.  Every  Chris- 
tian is  a  servant  of  Christ,  but  every  Christian  is  not 
a  minister  of  the  gospel.  Every  deacon  is  a  servant, 
as  the  word  implies ;  but  his  service  respects  temporal 
things,  and  the  office  was  instituted  that  the  ministry 
of  the  word  might  fully  devote  itself  to  the  high  duty 
of  spiritual  instruction. 

As  to  the  ministry,  there  are  obviously  two  extremes 
in  the  Church ;  one  among  ministers,  the  other  among 
the  people.  That  among  ministers,  is  an  abuse  of 
their  office,  so  as  to  make  it  a  stepping-stone  to  power, 
and  to  the  exercise  of  undue  dominion  over  their 
brethren.     That  among  the  people,  arises  from  the 


THE    MINISTRY    WE    NEED.  7 

idea  that,  because  ministers  are  servants,  therefore 
they  are  their  masters.  The  one  extreme  has  given 
rise  to  hierarchies,  which,  in  their  most  modified 
forms,  have  been  a  calamity  to  the  Church  and  the 
workl ; — and  the  other  has  given  rise  to  insubordina- 
tion, springing  from  the  assumption  that  ministers,  as 
such,  were  accountable  to  the  people,  and  not  to  Jesus 
Christ.  These  extremes  exist  and  are  producing  one 
another ;  as  in  the  state,  anarchy  produces  despotism, 
and  despotism  anarchy.  Whilst  the  people  owe  obe- 
dience to  scriptural  officers,  exercising  due  authority 
in  the  Lord,  ministers  should  ever  regard  the  precept 
of  their  Master,  "He  that  will  be  great,  let  him  be 
the  servant  of  all,"  and  the  example  of  their  Master, 
who  said,  "1  have  been  among  you  as  one  that 
serveth."  They  should  aim  to  be,  in  every  respect, 
"able  ministers  of  the  New  Testament,  not  of  the 
letter,  but  of  the  Spirit ;  for  the  letter  killeth,  but  the 
Spirit  giveth  life."  But  what  are  the  characteristics 
of  an  able  minister  of  the  New  Testament?  We 
would  place  among  these  : — 

1.  Decided  piety. — Piety  is  a  firm  and  right  appre- 
hension of  the  being,  perfections,  and  providence  of 
God,  with  suitable  affections  to  him,  resemblance  to 
his  moral  perfections,  and  a  constant  obedience  to  his 
will.  To  be  an  able  minister  and  faithful,  this  must 
be  decidedly  possessed.  Otherwise,  the  great  spring 
of  ministerial  life  is  wanting,  or  defective.     No  gifts 


8  THE    MINISTRY    WE    NEED. 

however  splendid  or  attractive  can  compensate  for  the 
lack  of  piety.  It  requires  but  a  small  degree  of  this 
for  a  young  man  to  go  through  our  required  course  of 
training  for  the  ministry,  and  to  sustain  a  respectable 
character.  Its  trial  commences  with  the  active  duties 
of  the  ministry.  There  is  difiiculty  in  finding  a  field 
of  labour,  and  division  attending  his  settlement,  his 
salary  is  inadequate,  his  labours  are  exhausting,  his 
people  are  lukewarm,  he  is  opposed  in  his  labours,  the 
world  murmurs,  his  preaching  is  not  successful,  his 
talents  are  depreciated,  and  he  is  apparently  neglected 
by  his  brethren.  Now  comes  the  trial  of  faith,  piety, 
and  principles,  which  soon  makes  apparent  the  real 
state  of  a  minister's  heart.  And  unless  his  heart  is 
deeply  imbued  with  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  fails  to 
accomplish  many  of  the  great  ends  for  which  the 
ministry  was  instituted. 

The  lack  of  that  Spirit  also  manifests  itself  in 
efforts  to  become  what  the  world  calls  a  popular 
preacher.  One  is  truly  popular  by  the  force  of  his 
talents  and  the  fervour  of  his  piety ;  another,  because 
he  makes  it  his  main  object.  Between  these  there  is 
a  great  difference.  One  is  simple  and  solemn;  the 
other,  magniloquent  and  self-complacent.  The  one 
impresses  by  his  thoughts ;  the  other,  by  his  language. 
The  one  collects  his  flowers  from  Calvary ;  the  other, 
from  Parnassus.  The  one  wins  converts  to  Christ; 
the  other,  makes  admirers  of  himself     The  one  mois- 


THE     MINISTRY    WE     NEED.  \) 

tens  the  eye  with  a  tear ;  the  other,  curls  the  Hp  with 
a  smile  of  admiration.  The  one  preaches  strongly 
and  boldly  the  doctrines  of  the  cross ;  the  other,  with- 
holds them,  lest  they  should  offend,  and  blunts  his 
arrows  lest  they  should  penetrate; — emulous  of  the 
reputation  of  a  popular  preacher.  These  nice  and 
pretty  preachers  are  too  rapidly  multiplying;  and 
they  will  continue  to  increase  or  diminish  in  the  pro- 
portion of  the  degree  of  serious  piety  in  the  ministry. 
Such  are  not  ambassadors  for  Christ;  they  are  but 
Sabbath-day  performers  before  fashionable  audiences, 
that  seek  amusement  alternately  at  the  church,  the 
opera,  and  the  theatre ! 

How  *adly  the  Jewish  Church  suffered  from  false 
prophets  and  priests !  How  soon  the  early  Church 
was  rent  and  torn  by  ungodly  ministers !  For  how 
many  ages,  not  excepting  our  own,  the  boasted  suc- 
cessors of  the  Apostles  were  the  vilest  of  men !  How 
even,  at  the  present  day,  in  some  countries  nominally 
Protestant,  the  lowest  infidelity  is  decked  in  the  robes 
of  the  ministry;  and  how,  in  communions  regarded 
as  evangelical,  an  unsanctified  clergy  are  prostituting 
the  order  and  ordinances  of  God's  house,  to  the  sup- 
planting of  a  spiritual  by  a  formal  and  ritual  religion ! 
And,  when  we  examine  the  history  of  the  Church,  we 
find  that  true  piety  was  the  great  element  of  the 
success  of  those  who  have  most  blest  it  by  their 
ministry.     It  was  the  piety  of  Paul  that  sustained 


10  THE     MINISTRY    WE    NEED. 

him  amid  his  manifold  trials,  and  persecutions,  and 
untiring  labours.  We  owe  the  glorious  Reformation 
far  more  to  the  piet}^,  than  to  the  policy  or  talents  of 
the  reformers.  What  but  the  piety  of  our  Presbyte- 
rian fathers  sustained  and  animated  them  amid  the 
glens,  and  the  rocks,  and  the  mountains  of  Scotland, 
when  the  bloody  trooper  was  sent  out  for  their 
murder  by  those  who  worshipped  in  cathedrals.  And 
if  we  look  into  the  character  of  such  men  as  Baxter, 
Doddridge,  Edwards,  Dickinson,  Davies,  Tennent,  or 
to  come  down  to  some  of  our  own  Alumni,  whose 
names  a^e  as  fragrant  ointment  among  us,  we  find 
that  decided,  warm-hearted  piety  was  the  great  ele- 
ment of  their  success. 

2.  To  be  an  able  minister  requires  due  qualifica- 
tion for  the  work.  In  the  magnitude  of  its  objects 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel  far  surpasses  every  other 
employment  in  which  man  can  engage.  There  is 
scarcely  any  intellectual  culture,  civil  liberty,  or  social 
order,  but  through  its  influence.  And  it  is  alike  God's 
appointed  instrument  for  the  salvation  of  men,  and  for 
the  moral  illumination  of  our  world.  To  the  scheme 
of  redemption  all  objects  and  events  in  our  world  are 
subordinate  and  subservient.  This  is  the  point  where 
all  the  attributes  of  God  converge  iuto  a  blaze  of 
glory.  And  the  means  appointed  to  make  known  the 
redemption  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  to  our  world,  is 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel.     If  angels,  without  being 


THE    MINISTRY    TVE    NEED.  11 

satisfied,  are  prying  into  its  wonders;  if  Panl,  tlio 
eloqnent  and  aged,  could  say,  "  Who  is  sufficient  for 
these  things," — then  a  pious,  uninspired  man,  should 
seek  the  highest  possible  qualifications  for  the  ministry. 
The  distinguishing  mark  of  a  faithful  minister  is 
this,  "he  shall  feed  his  people  with  knowledge  and 
understanding."  Unless  he  possesses  these,  how  can 
he  mete  them  out  to  his  people  ?  What,  but  sound, 
can  an  empty  vessel  send  forth?  Regarding  an 
uneducated  ministry  as  unfit  to  instruct  the  people, 
as  unfitted  to  obtain  for  the  gospel  the  attention  and 
the  respect  of  the  thoughtful,  and  as  very  liable  to 
become  the  dupes  of  error,  and  the  promoters  of  fana- 
ticism and  folly,  our  Church,  from  its  origin,  has 
insisted  on  an  educated  ministry.  Hence,  it  has  ever 
been  the  patron  of  the  school,  the  academy,  the  col- 
lege, and  of  schools  for  the  instruction  of  her  rising 
prophets.  Hence,  the  erection  of  this  Seminary,  and 
of  its  sister  institutions,  that  the  future  pastors  of  the 
churches  may  have  the  benefit  of  a  thorough  training 
for  their  high  duties.  Mere  piety  will  exert  an  in- 
fluence; but  it  requires  an  alliance  with  talent  and 
education  to  arrest  the  attention  of  the  vicious,  and  to 
reform  public  morals.  It  required  all  the  talent  and 
education  of  Paul,  to  cross  the  Rubicon  of  Jewish  pre- 
judice; to  confute  the  Pharisee  and  Sadducee  in  the 
Synagogue;  the  sophist  in  the  school  of  Tyrannus, 
and  the  subtle  heathen  in  all  the  courts  of  the  Gen- 


12  THE     MINISTRY    WE     NEED. 

tiles.  It  required  all  the  talent  and  education  of 
Luther  and  Melancthon  to  breast  the  storm  of  papal 
wrath  that  fell  upon  them  ;  and,  like  the  towering 
cliff,  to  bear  unmoved  and  uninjured,  the  tempest,  the 
thunder,  and  the  lightning,  that  played  around  them. 
And  wherever  the  gospel  has  made  signal  and  perma- 
nent conquests,  in  changing  the  face  of  society,  in 
moulding  civil  and  moral  institutions,  in  correcting 
the  opinions  and  reforming  the  lives  of  the  intelligent 
and  influential,  it  has  been  always  preached  by  men 
of  high  mental  endowment,  and  of  great  and  varied 
acquisition. 

The  living  historian  of  the  Reformation  tells  us, 
that  "the  Reformers  always  connected  deep  study 
with  the  laborious  ministry;  the  ministry  was  the 
end,  study  was  but  the  means."  And  this  we  might 
learn  from  their  works.  And  here  we  have  revealed 
one  of  the  great  elements  of  their  success.  The  great 
defect  of  the  ministry  of  our  day  is  a  neglect  of  study; 
and  this  is  induced  by  causes  which  we  cannot  now 
stop  to  state.  They  are  known  of  all  men.  A  young 
man  of  fine  promise  concludes  his  course  of  study  and 
becomes  a  pastor,  exciting  high  hopes  of  eminence 
and  usefulness.  Amid  the  calls  and  rewards  of  active 
life,  books  and  studies  are  neglected.  Applauded  by 
those  who  praise  without  stint,  because  without  sense, 
he  soon  learns  to  lean  upon  his  unassisted  genius  and 
natural  sagacity.     He  soon  discovers  a  way  to  repu- 


THE    MINISTRY    WE    NEED.  13 

tation  other  and  shorter  than  the  dull  and  beaten  one 
of  industry.  He  soon  cuts  the  knot  that  he  cannot 
untie,  and  jumps  the  difficulty  that  he  cannot  remove, 
and  depends  less  upon  patience  of  investigation  than 
upon  his  intuition  to  comprehend  causes,  and  subjects, 
and  methods  of  argumentation.  And  soon  his  mind, 
naturally  fertile  and  productive,  becomes  a  barren. 
Now  his  sermons  are  alike,  whatever  may  be  the  text. 
All  have  something  old,  but  nothing  new.  His  people 
complain ;  but  habits  are  now  formed  which  cannot 
be  mended.  His  people  cry  for  meat,  and  he  gives 
them  milk.  Un profited  by  his  labours,  they  seek  a 
dismission;  and  he  must  retire  from  a  field  where 
diligent  habits  of  study  would  make  him  an  honoured 
and  useful  man  until  the  almond  blossoms  flourished 
upon  his  head.  He  began  a  man;  he  ends  a  boy. 
As  a  rule,  the  minister  should  make  everything  give 
way  to  a  due  and  full  preparation  for  the  pulpit. 
The  pulpit  is  the  place  from  which  to  instruct  the 
people.  There,  pre-eminently,  he  is  to  prove  himself 
an  able  minister  of  the  New  Testament.  He  should 
ever  feel  that  the  image  of  God  is  not  to  be  re-in- 
stamped  upon  our  world  by  those  who  are  talkers,  and 
exhorters,  and  storytellers,  instead  of  preachers  and 
teachers ;  and  whose  best  prepared  nutriment  is  but 
milk  for  babes. 

3.  To  be  an  able  minister  of  the  New  Testament  re- 
quires the  full  presentation  of  its  great  doctrines.    It  is 


14  THE    MINISTRY    WE    NEED. 

by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  that  God  has  ordained 
to  save  men.  Everything  else,  so  far  as  saving  men  is 
concerned,  is  but  giving  scorpions  for  eggs,  and  serpents 
for  fish.  The  grand  object  of  the  Saviour  during  his  in- 
carnation, was  to  prove  that  he  was  the  promised  Mes- 
siah, by  the  miracles  which  he  wrought,  and  by  show- 
ing that  in  himself  all  the  lines  of  history  and  prophecy 
met  and  blended.  His  life  he  closed  upon  the  cross 
agreeably  to  the  Scriptures ;  being  made  a  sin  offering 
for  his  people,  that  they  might  be  made  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  in  him.  And  with  the  cup  of  sorrow  in 
his  hand,  and  with  the  agonies  of  Gethsemane  and 
Calvary  in  full  view,  he  uttered  this  memorable  senti- 
ment, "  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will 
draw  all  men  unto  me."  This  refers,  primarily,  to  his 
crucifixion,  but  in  a  secondary  and  important  sense  to 
the  preaching  of  the  doctrines  of  the  cross.  And, 
hence,  after  the  resurrection  had  completed  the  circle 
of  testimony  to  his  Messiahship,  and  the  Spirit  had 
been  granted,  the  work  of  the  Apostles  was  to  preach 
a  crucified  Christ  as  God's  great  remedy  for  the  moral 
diseases  of  man.  This  was  the  theme  of  Peter  amid 
the  gatherings  at  the  feast  of  Pentecost — and  of  Paul 
amid  all  the  cities  of  the  Gentiles.  Their  grand  theme 
was  "  repentance  towards  God,  and  fixith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  And,  hence,  their  ministry  was  mighty, 
through  God,  to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds.  And 
such  is  the  course  which  must  be  pursued  by  all  their 


THE    MINISTRY    WE    NEED.  15 

successors  in  offico  who  desire  to  approve  themselves 
as  able  ministers  of  the  New  Testament. 

When  we  look  into  the  ages  of  conflict  between 
truth  and  error,  we  find  that  those  have  been  always 
the  victors  who  presented  the  doctrines  of  the  cross 
most  simply  and  purely.  And  in  every  branch  of  the 
Church  that  ministry  has  been  most  successful  which 
has  been  thus  characterized.  The  preaching  of  Christ 
and  him  crucified,  produced  the  Reformation,  and  has 
sustained  it.  If  any  doubt  this,  let  them  read 
D'Aubigne,  and  Luther  on  the  Galatians,  and  the  Life 
of  John  Knox,  and  Howe's  Living  Temple,  and  his  nine 
sermons  on  Friendship  with  God,  and  Flavel's  forty- 
two  sermons  on  the  character  of  Christ,  and  his  thirty- 
four  on  the  method  of  Grace,  and  Owen  on  the  Spirit, 
and  on  the  Person  and  Glory  of  Christ.  A  Christ 
crucified  for  the  sins  of  sinners,  as  their  substitute,  and 
in  their  law  place,  is  the  great  central  truth  of  our 
religion.  And  to  the  directing  of  the  eyes  of  all  men 
to  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world,  an  able  minister  of  the  New  Testament  will 
make  everything  subservient.  The  Alumni  of  this 
Seminary  will  all  testify  that  thus  we  have  been  em- 
phatically taught  by  the  venerated  Professor  in  whose 
vacated  chair  we  place  to-day  a  successor.  And  our 
heartfelt  supplication  will  ascend  to  the  God  of  all 
grace,  that  in  this,  as  in  all  other  respects,  the  mantle 
of  Elijah  may  fall  upon  Elisha. 


16  THE     MINISTRY    WE     NEED. 

And  is  there  not  need  for  warning  upon  this  subject, 
when  so  many  are  turning  away  from  the  simplicity  of 
Christ,  spoiling  the  gospel,  "  through  philosophy,  and 
vain  deceit,  after  the  tradition  of  men,  after  the  rudi- 
ments of  this  world  ?"  Instead  of  preaching  Christ, 
and  simply  expounding  His  word,  how  many  are  seek- 
ing, above  all  things,  to  make  adherents  to  their  own 
peculiarities  !  One  has  his  theory  of  moral  suasion, — 
another,  of  inspiration, — another,  as  to  original  sin, — 
another,  as  to  regeneration, — the  atonement;  another, 
as  to  interpretation, — another,  as  to  the  efficacy  of 
sacraments  and  ceremonies, — another,  of  moral  and 
social  reform.  In  many  portions  of  the  Church  there 
is  a  raging  controversy  as  to  the  mint,  anise,  and 
cummin,  amid  which  the  lifting  up  of  the  Son  of  Man 
is  sadly  neglected.  It  is  the  preaching  of  the  cross 
that  gives  power  to  the  ministry ;  and  when  that  is 
neglected  for  anything  else,  we  cut  off  the  lock  of  our 
strength.  The  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  is  the  only  suc- 
cessful weapon  of  the  ministry;  and  the  history  of  the 
Church  is  pregnant  with  the  most  important  lessons 
upon  this  subject.  As  the  truth  died  out  from  the 
ancient  Church,  fancy,  and  credulity,  and  corruption 
had  a  freer  play ;  the  tokens  of  departing  glory  and  of 
a  coming  night  fearfully  multiplied.  Shade  thickened 
after  shade.  Each  succeeding  age  came  wrapped  in  a 
deeper  gloom,  until  the  sun  which  rose  over  Judea  set 
at  Rome, — until  the  flood  of   light  which  it  poured 


THE    MINISTRY    WE     NEED.  17 


upon  the  world  had  to  retrer.t  before  that  long,  long 
night,  called  the  "  Dark  Ages, >*  which  seemed  to  roll  on 
as  if  it  were  never  to  end  ! 

And  what,  in  some  quarters,  has  been  made  the  re- 
proach of  our  beloved  Institution,  is  its  true  glory; 
and  is  the  great  cause  of  the  rejoicing  of  all  its  friends, 
and  of  its  influence  in  all  sections  of  our  country,  and 
in  all  branches  of  the  Church,  that  amid  the  currents 
and  counter  currents  of  erroneous  doctrine ;  amid  the 
conflicts  of  philosophy  falsely  so  called;  amid  the 
storms  which  have  blown  over  the  Church,  and  which 
have  made  some  of  its  men  of  might  to  bow;  amid  the 
reproaches  of  lukewarmness  and  time-serving  by  its 
friends,  and  of  bigoted  attachment  to  antiquated  for- 
mularies, and  of  blind  submission  to  authority  b}^  its 
enemies ;  it  has  continued  steadfast  and  immovable  in 
the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  So  may  it  ever 
continue.  And  the  prayer  of  all  of  us  will  ascend  to 
the  God  of  all  grace  that  the  beloved  brother  placed 
among  its  professors  by  the  election  of  the  Church, 
may  strengthen  every  cord  that  tends  to  bind  it,  in 
immovable  anchorage  under  the  shelter  of  the  Rock  of 
Ages. 

4.  An  able  minister  must  be  impressive.  If  true^ 
as  the  notable  reviewer  of  Milton  affirms,  that  "as 
civilization  advances  poetry  necessarily  declines,"  it  is 
equally  true,  and  for  the  same  reasons,  that  in  the 
proportion  people  are  enlightened,  is  it  difficult  to  im- 


18  THE    MINISTRY    WE     NEED. 


press  them !  In  the  age  of  Moses  thp  Jews,  were  more 
easily  impressed  than  ^Ji  that  of  Isaiah ;  and  as  the 
unsanctified  mind  becomes  accustomed  to  the  light  of 
science  and  religion,  does  it  lose  its  susceptibility  of 
impression  from  the  public  exhibitions  of  divine  truth ! 
And  hence  the  inelegant  but  descriptive  phrase,  "  a 
gospel-hardened  sinner,"  to  describe  a  person  who, 
under  the  influence  of  light,  has  lost,  measurably,  that 
susceptibility.  We  state  the  principle,  not  as  an  argu- 
ment for  the  blessedness  of  ignorance,  but  for  an  im- 
pressive ministry.  It  is  by  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  that  men  are  to  be  saved  instrumentally ;  and 
no  effort  should  be  left  untried  to  raise  up  a  ministry 
prepared  to  preach,  so  as  to  impress  men  with  a  sense 
of  its  eternal  importance.  And  especially  should  this 
be  the  case  in  our  country,  where,  more  than  in  any 
other,  the  public  mind  is  swayed  by  popular  addresses ; 
where  the  current  to  worldliness  is  so  proverbially 
strong,  and  where,  perhaps,  more  than  in  any  other, 
the  difficulty  may  be  greater  of  arresting  attention,  and 
turning  away  the  heart  from  the  pursuit  of  vanity. 
Ours,  beyond  all  others,  is  the  country  for  a  White- 
field,  a  Summerfield.  a  Larned,  a  John  Breckinridge ; 
men  peculiarly  adapted  to  sway  the  masses,  and  whose 
dispensation  was  public  impression.  Such  men  may 
leave  no  monuments  to  their  learning ;  but  they  give 
out  impulses  which  may  be  absorbed  by  other  minds, 


I 

THE     MINISTRY    WE    NEED.  19 

and  plans  of  action,  and  thus  pass  away  from  view, 
but  never  die. 

May  it  not  be  that  to  this  point  too  little  attention 
is  directed  in  our  seminaries;  and  by  our  young 
brethren  who  resort  to  them  for  instruction  ?  Their 
chairs  of  theology,  and  of  history,  and  of  criticism,  are 
filled  with  the  best,  and  best  furnished  minds  in  the 
Church;  but  in  many  of  them  there  is  no  adequate 
provision  made  for  instruction  in  the  art  of  preaching. 
In  the  field  which  is  the  world,  the  power  of  impres- 
sion is  the  main  thing;  is  it  not  regarded  as  too  se- 
condary in  our  theological  schools?  Is  it  not  even 
sometimes  the  subject  of  the  sneer  of  the  dull 
scholastic?  Notwithstanding  the  positive  and  accu- 
mulated evidence  upon  the  subject,  there  is  a  way  of 
talking  about  popular  talent  as  if  it  were  necessarily 
disconnected  with  profound  thought ;  and  also  a  way 
of  talking  about  mere  scholarship,  and  the  power  of 
accumulation,  as  if  they  could  accomplish  everything. 
And  the  whole  machinery  of  our  preparation  for  the 
ministr}'^,  is  calculated  thus  to  impress  our  candidates 
for  the  pulpit.  Hence,  many  of  our  young  ministers 
can  read  their  Hebrew  Bibles  fluently,  who  cannot  in 
public  read  a  chapter  of  the  English  version,  without 
stumbling  and  mispronouncing  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end.  Many  can  read  Homer  and  Horace,  with 
accuracy  and  fluency,  who  cannot  read  a  hymn  of 
Watts  or  Newton,  with  the  emphasis  or  elegance  of  a 


20  THE    MINISTRY    WE    NEED. 

young  lady  from  some  of  our  best  boarding  schools. 
Many  can  write  a  sermon  according  to  rule,  and  of 
power  both  as  to  truth  and  argument ;  but  when  they 
come  to  preach  it,  so  dull  and  slovenly  is  their  man- 
ner, and  so  drawling  and  holy  is  their  tone,  that  to 
their  hearers  it  has  neither  sense,  point,  truth,  or  force. 
As  spiritual  fishermen  they  cast  the  net  so  clumsily  as 
to  drive  off,  instead  of  drawing  up  the  fishes.  And  so 
little  skill  in  adapting  themselves  to  circumstances 
have  many  of  our  best  educated  licentiates,  that  they 
wander  through  our  vacancies  for  years,  without  meet- 
ing with  a  congregation  willing  to  extend  a  call  to 
their  educated  dulness.  We  are  far  from  believing 
that  too  much  is  done  to  secure  the  full  education  of 
our  ministry ;  we  would  rather  increase  than  diminish 
the  time  for  preparation,  and  the  course  of  study ;  but 
the  conviction  is  deep  and  heartfelt,  that  far  too  little 
is  done  to  give  it  power  and  impressiveness  in  public. 
We  may  differ  as  to  the  cause,  but  the  fact  is  obvious, 
that  our  ministry,  to  a  lamentable  degree  fails  to  im- 
press the  masses. 

The  necessary  ingredients  to  impressiveness  in  the 
preacher  are,  good  writing,  good  speaking,  and  a  man- 
ner at  once  solemn  and  earnest.  When  these  are  ac- 
companied with  a  character  for  consistent  piety,  they 
cannot  fail  to  attract  and  to  impress.  And  hence  they 
should  be  sedulously  cultivated  in  order  to  usefulness. 
To  be  sure,  education  cannot  supply  everything  where 


THE    MINISTRY    WE    NEED.  21 

nature  has  been  parsimonious  of  her  gifts.  But  it  can 
do  much ;  and  what  we  plead  for,  is,  that  far  more  at- 
tention should  be  given  to  that  side  of  the  education  of 
our  ministry  which  fits  it  for  impressively  preaching 
the  gospel,  so  as  to  reach  the  great  masses  that  are 
out  in  ways  of  wandering  from  God. 

When  we  add  to  these  characteristics  of  an  able  min- 
ister of  the  New  Testament,  that  of  entire  consecration 
to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  our  picture  is  complete. 
The  injunction  of  our  Lord  is,  "  pray  ye  the  Lord  of 
the  harvest,  that  he  will  send  forth  labourers  unto  his 
harvest."  The  Lord's  harvest  requires  labourers,  not 
idlers.  Those  who  enter  the  field  in  answer  to  this 
prayer,  enter  it,  not  to  seek  the  lordship  of  it,  nor  yet 
to  fatten  on  the  labours  of  others,  but  to  work  in  it 
during  the  whole  day  of  tiieir  lives,  whether  it  be  long 
or  short. 

It  is  not  sufficient  for  a  true  minister  to  feel  a  gene- 
ral desire  to  be  useful ;  he  must  be  possessed  by  a 
desire  for  the  salvation  of  men,  which  will  give  him 
no  rest  but  as  he  seeks  to  gratify  it.  Souls  are  his 
hire ;  and  many  waters  cannot  quench  the  love  which 
inflames  his  heart  to  obtain  them.  It  is  this  one 
great,  absorbing  feeling,  which  takes  him  to  his  study, 
to  his  closet,  to  the  chamber  of  sickness,  to  the  pulpit. 
It  inspires  every  sermon  he  writes,  gives  energy  to 
every  address  he  makes,  and  fervency  to  every  prayer 
he  utters,  and  marks  all  his  intercourse  with  all  men. 


22  THE    MINISTRY    WE    NEED. 

He  is  seeking  a  place  among  those  who,  by  turning 
many  to  righteousness,  will  shine  as  the  stars  forever, 
and  forever.  A  church  with  such  a  ministry  is  a 
growing  and  glorious  church. 

But  will  any  say,  this  is  a  fancy  sketch,  unattainable 
by  ordinary  men  ?  But  is  not  Christ  the  pattern  for 
our  imitation  ?  And  his  meat  and  drink  was,  to  do 
the  will  of  his  Father.  But  will  any  say  he  was 
divine  ?  Then  look  at  Paul ;  from  the  hour  the  scales 
fell  from  his  eyes,  until  the  hour  he  went  up  to  receive 
his  crown  from  his  exalted  Saviour,  he  lived  but  for 
one  object :  to  save  men  by  the  preaching  of  the  truth. 
But  will  any  say,  he  was  inspired  ?  Then  look  at 
"Whitefield  and  Wesley.  "  When  you  see  them  di- 
viding their  lives  between  the  pulpit  and  the  closet ; 
sacrificing  every  comfort,  crossing  the  ocean  many 
times,  moving  populous  cities,  often  rising  from  the  bed 
of  sickness  to  preach  to  multitudes,  and  under  circum- 
stances Avhich  rendered  it  not  improbable  that  they 
might  exchange  the  pulpit  for  the  tomb ;"  when  you 
look  at  the  lives  and  labour  of  these,  and  such  men  as 
Heywood,  and  Baxter,  and  Chalmers,  and  others 
among  the  dead  and  the  living,  you  will  see  that  we 
have  drawn  no  fancy  sketch.  When  it  was  announced 
to  the  dying  Backus,  whose  ministry  was  greatly  pro- 
tracted and  useful,  that  he  could  not  survive  an  hour, 
"  then,"  said  he,  "  place  me  on  my  knees,  that  I  may 
offer  up  another  prayer  for  the  Church  of  God  before 


THE     MINISTRY    VTE    NEED.  23 

I  die."     He  was  placed  upon  his  knees;  and  upon  his 
knees,  praying  for  the  Church  of  God,  he  died. 

Such  being  what  we  consider  the  characteristics  of 
an  able  minister  of  the  New  Testament,  we  proceed 
brie%  to  state  : — 

TUE    world's   great    NEED   OF    SUCH    MINISTERS. 

Our  country  is  incomparably  the  most  inviting 
field  for  Christian  exertion  which  the  world  contains. 
Its  territory  is  vast,  its  soil  productive,  its  wealth  be- 
yond computation, — its  mind,  intelligent  and  active ; 
its  institutions  free.  AVe  possess  the  broadest  liberty, 
and  the  most  perfect  security.  And  as  free  as  is  the 
air  to  the  electric  fluid,  so  free  is  our  country  to  the 
exchange  of  thought,  and  open  to  manly  discussion  on 
all  kinds  of  subjects. 

It  is  also  the  point  towards  which  almost  all  the 
streams  of  emigration  rising  in  the  old  world  are  flow- 
ing. The  strangers  weekly  landed  on  our  shores, 
under  the  genial  influence  of  our  institutions,  are  soon 
moulded  into  fellow-citizens.  And  a  minister  must 
possess  the  gift  of  tongues  who  can  in  their  own  lan- 
guage preach  to  the  few  hundred  inhabitants  of  any 
of  our  rising  villages  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  or  on 
the  shores  of  our  lakes.  As  a  nation,  our  physical 
power  is  vigorous,  and  it  is  all  driven  as  by  steam. 
The  most  enterprising  people  of  Europe  in  comparison 


24  THE     MINISTRY    WE     NEED. 

with  our  own,  are  but  as  the  sluggish  Rhine  as  it  flows 
through  HoUancl,  to  our  Niagara.  Indeed  we  pos- 
sess all  the  great  elements  of  power,  with  room  to 
grow,  and  nurture  to  sustain.  But  these  elements  are 
not  yet  fully  combined  ;  and  a  few  generations  are  to 
determine  whether  we  will  be  governed  by  infidelity 
and  Popery,  or  by  morality  and  religion.  Unless  the 
gospel  gains  the  ascendency  in  this  nation,  the  astonish- 
ment excited  by  our  unexampled  progress  to  greatness, 
will  give  way  to  the  greater  astonishment  of  our  sudden 
fall  And  whether  or  not  the  gospel  shall  obtain  the 
ascendency  depends,  under  God,  upon  the  fact  whether 
or  not  it  is  supplied  with  an  able  ministry.  And  what 
but  a  ministry  earnest  as  was  that  of  Paul  and  White- 
field,  truthful  as  was  that  of  Davies  and  Brainard, 
self-sacrificing  as  was  that  of  our  Scottish  and  Irish 
ancestry,  can  scatter  the  salt  from  the  Lakes  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from  the  east  across  the  Great 
River,  through  Texas,  Nebraska,  New  Mexico,  Oregon, 
and  California,  in  such  quantities  as  to  preserve  their 
rapidly  growing  communities  from  moral  putrefaction? 
Let  but  a  tithe  of  the  enterprise  which  reigns  in  the 
world  around  us,  glow  in  the  bosom  of  the  ministry  of 
our  land,  and  soon  the  Rocky  Mountains  will  cry  to 
the  Alleghanies,  and  the  Sacramento  to  the  Hudson, 
and  the  Columbia  to  the  Ohio  :  "  0,  magnify  the  Lord 
with  me,  let  us  exalt  his  name  together." 

Nor  when  we  look  at  the  state  of  the  world,  is  the 


THE    MINISTRY    "WE    NEED.  25 

kingdom  of  heaven  as  near  as  many  would  imagine. 
This  age  does  not  answer  the  description  of  that  which 
is  to  precede  the  setting  up  of  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord. 
Before  Jesus  Christ  becomes  the  king  of  nations,  there 
will  be  a  conflict  which  will  make  the  earth  to  tremble. 
The  signs  of  the  times  are  already  portentous  in  the 
old  world.  Popery  is  yet  what  it  was  in  the  days  of 
its  Gregories,  Clements,  and  Johns.  The  lion  is  caged, 
but  his  natural  ferocity  and  tusks  remain.  And 
Mahometanism  is  yet  what  it  was  in  the  days  of  its 
Alis  and  Omars.  It  is  civilly  weak ;  it  has  lost  its 
bold  spirit  of  enterprise  and  imposture ;  but  its  heart 
is  the  same.  Nor  has  heathenism  lost  any  of  its  stupid 
and  sullen  resistance  to  the  truth.  "  The  prince  of 
the  powers  of  the  air,"  yet  rules  the  heathen  world 
with  a  strong  hand.  Nor  will  these  powers  always 
look  quietly  on,  and  without  resistance,  see  their 
territories  won  over  to  the  Prince  of  Peace.  There  is 
yet  a  battle  to  be  fought,  when,  as  seen  in  vision  by 
the  prophet,  the  blood  may  come  up  to  the  horse's 
bridles.  True,  the  result  is  not  doubtful.  Victory 
wall  eventually  perch  upon  the  banner  under  which 
are  ranged  the  people  and  saints  of  the  Most  High. 
But  an  able  ministry  is  needed  to  prepare  the  Church 
for  the  conflict ;  to  lead  on  the  hosts  of  the  elect,  and 
to  guide  them  in  the  coming  struggle. 

And  the  present  state  of  the  visible  Church  loudly 
calls  for  such  a  ministry.     A  wasting  and  multiform 


2p  THE    MINISTRY    WE     NEED. 

fanaticism,  claiming  almost  prophetic  revelations,  is 
deluding  multitudes.  A  religion  of  forms,  and  sacra- 
ments, and  priestly  interferences,  is  deluding  multitudes 
more.  Prelacy,  for  reasons  baseless  as  the  fabric  of  a 
vision,  is  urging  its  exclusive  claims  to  be  the  true 
church  ;  and  in  some  quarters,  with  a  narrowness  and 
bigotry  better  suited  to  the  dotage  of  the  "Latin  sister." 
Popery,  too,  is  lifting  up  its  wounded  head,  and  is 
stretching  its  aged  limbs,  and  is  urging  its  gray  hairs 
and  furrowed  brow,  its  decrepitude,  its  wounds,  and 
its  weakness,  to  make  unto  itself  friends.  And  amid 
our  evangelical  churches,  old  heresies  are  rising 
under  new  names,  and  old  errors  are  returning  in 
a  new  dress,  distracting  the  councils  of  the  wise 
and  the  good,  and  arraying  brethren  against  one  ano- 
ther, who  should  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  in  the 
conflict  with  the  common  enemy.  In  any  of  our 
villages  of  one  thousand  inhabitants  we  meet  with  the 
rationalism  of  Germany,  the  infidelity  of  France,  the 
apostacy  of  Oxford,  and  the  stupid  Popery  of  Ireland. 
And  everywhere  is  human  nature  in  ruins,  and  the 
carnal  heart  with  its  errors  and  prejudices.  To  silence 
these  adversaries ;  to  repel  their  assaults  upon  the 
truth,  and  to  save  men  from  their  snares,  we  need 
minds  trained,  sanctified,  and  active,  that  can  pour 
forth  light  like  the  sun.  A  feeble  opposition  to  these 
is  worse  than  none,  as  they  measure  their  strength,  not 
by  the  volume  of  their  own  muscle,  but  by  the  dexterity 


THE     MINISTRY    WE     NEED.  :^i 

with  which  they  cause  a  weak  opponent,  like  a  silk  worm, 
to  wind  himself  np  in  the  web  of  his  own  weaving. 

In  our  age  and  country,  mind  is  unshackled, — and 
with  the  chains  of  superstition  it  has  thrown  aside 
reverence  for  orders,  office,  station.  We  make  the 
statement  only  to  record  an  historical  fact.  Nothing 
is  now  received  without  investigation,  but  error  and 
nonsense.  The  attachments  of  clans,  parties,  sects, 
descending  from  one  generation  to  another,  are  here 
unknown.  The  f\ict  that  a  man  is  a  minister  obtains 
no  notes  for  his  opinions;  and  in  many  portions  of  the 
land,  secures  many  against  them.  The  most  catholic 
principles  are  here  discussed,  as  if  but  just  stated ; 
and  creeds  and  confessions,  sealed  by  the  blood  of 
martyrs,  and  which  have  received  the  sanction  of  ages, 
are  searched  and  sifted  as  if  but  just  published.  Amid 
such  an  array  of  opposition,  the  advocacy  of  truth  re- 
quires the  ablest  minds  that  God  has  created.  Efficacy 
as  to  the  success  of  the  truth  is  from  God,  but  the  in- 
strumentality is  with  man ;  and  the  more  able  our 
ministry,  the  surer  the  hopes  of  its  speedy  triumphs. 
As  we  cannot  expect  every  lawyer  to  be  a  Blackstone, 
nor  every  judge  to  be  a  Marshall,  nor  every  physician 
to  be  a  Rush,  nor  every  soldier  to  be  a  Washington, 
nor  every  philosopher  to  be  a  Newton,  so  neither 
can  we  expect  every  minister  to  be  a  Paul,  a  Chalmers, 
a  Miller,  or  an  Alexander.  There  are  various  depart- 
ments and  fields  of  labour  in  the  Church  to  occupy  every 


28  THE    MINISTRY    WE     NEED. 

variety  of  talent  in  the  ministry ;  and  every  man  sus- 
taining that  relation  to  the  world  should  occupy  their 
every  talent  to  the  full ;  and,  like  the  stars  in  heaven, 
should  fill  up  the  orbit  in  which  they  move  with  their 
light.  A  minister  in  our  age  and  country,  where  so 
much  is  to  be  done,  and  yet  finding  nothing  to  do ! 
Out  upon  such  ministers  !  Had  they  lived  in  the  days 
of  Noah,  they  would  have  found  themselves  in  lack  of 
water  when  the  waves  of  the  deluge  were  rising  around 
them. 

Such,  my  brother,  is  the  ministry  needed  in  our  day 
by  the  Church  and  the  world.  It  was  for  the  educa- 
tion of  such  a  ministry  that  our  fathers  founded  the 
Theological  Seminary  located  in  this  town ;  and  that 
through  the  years  of  its  history,  it  has  been  fostered  and 
cherished  by  the  General  Assembly.  And  it  is  to  aid  to 
the  utmost  of  your  ability,  in  the  education  of  such  a 
ministry,  that  you  have  been  called  by  the  Church  from 
a  sister  Seminary  to  be  a  professor  in  this  Institution. 
No  higher  mark  of  their  confidence  could  the  Directors 
of  this  Seminary  give  you  than  their  unanimous  nomi- 
nation of  you  to  the  Assembly  which  has  transferred  you 
here ;  and  we  feel  assured  that  that  confidence  will  be 
justified,  by  a  life  consecrated  to  the  high  interests 
which  we  cheerfully  commit  to  your  trust. 

The  department,  my  brother,  over  which  you  are 
especially  to  preside  embraces  subjects  and  topics,  the 
most   important   in    their  bearings  upon  all  the  in- 


THE    MINISTRY     VTE     NEED.  29 

terests  of  the  Church.  To  you  is  committed  instruc- 
tion in  the  sacraments  of  the  Church,  as  to  their  au- 
thority, history,  administration,  and  meaning.  I  need 
not  say  to  you,  who  have  spent  so  many  of  your  years 
in  Laborious  study,  and  successful  instruction,  that  it  is 
through  the  door  of  the  sacraments  the  most  fearful  and 
desolating  errors  have  entered  the  Church  of  God.  There 
is  scarcely  a  shade  of  error  from  their  denial  as  positive 
institutions,  up  to  the  giving  to  them  the  power  which 
the  Holy  Ghost  alone  exercises,  which  has  not  existed 
in  reference  to  them,  and  which  do  not  now  exist.  It 
will  be  for  you  to  clear  these  rites  from  the  clouds  and 
mists  with  which  the  fanaticism  of  a  Fox,  and  the  super- 
stition of  Papists  and  Puseyites  have  cast  around  them, 
and  to  hold  them  up  before  our  rising  ministry  in 
their  true  scriptural  simplicity  and  meaning. 

To  you  is  also  committed  the  work  of  instruction 
in  Church  government ;  and  at  a  time  when  Popery, 
Prelacy,  and  Independency  are  urging  their  claims  with 
quenchless  zeal,  and  great  power.  Whilst  as  a  people 
we  have  ever  insisted  less  upon  the  external  organiza- 
tion of  the  Church,  than  upon  its  system  of  doctrines, 
and  its  inner  life,  yet  our  entire  history  proves  that 
we  have  not  been  indifferent  to  it.  Where  has  purity 
of  doctrine  long  survived  the  introduction  of  grades 
into  the  ministry  ?  And  where  now  is  the  truth,  the 
life,  the  holy  zeal  of  the  Church  to  be  found,  save 
where  the  purity  of  the  ministry,  and  the  radical  prin- 


30  THE    MINISTRY    WE    NEED. 

ciples  of  Presbyterianism,  fire  maintained  ?  Our 
fathers  were  not  contending  for  airy  speculations,  or 
for  unmeaning  peculiarities,  when  they  refused  to  bow 
to  a  bishop's  sceptre — when  they  surrendered  life 
rather  than  the  principles  of  Presbytery — when  they 
preferred  to  be  hunted  like  wild  beasts  through  the  glens 
and  over  the  mountains  of  Scotland,  by  troopers  set  on 
by  those  who  worshipped  in  cathedrals,  rather  than  sur- 
render their  simple  faith  as  to  the  polity  of  the  Church. 
They  have  transmitted  to  us  a  church  organized  upon 
the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and  Prophets,  with  its 
three  orders  of  Ministers,  Elders,  and  Deacons ;  and  so 
organized  as  to  secure  promptness  and  efficiency  with- 
out tyranny, — the  free  action  of  the  people,  without 
confusion  or  anarchy ; — and  the  oversight  and  govern- 
ment of  each  member  without  interfering  with  the 
freedom  of  any.  And  the  maintainance  of  these  prin- 
ciples, endeared  to  us  because  taught  us  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  purchased  by  the  blood  and  treasures 
of  our  fathers,  we  regard  as  essential  to  the  maintain- 
ance of  the  civil  rights  of  man  and  the  sacred  liberties 
of  the  Church,  Your  own  early  training,  your  \^ws 
and  your  services  as  a  minister,  and  your  antecedents 
as  a  professor,  lead  us  with  entire  confidence  to  com- 
mit this  department  of  instruction  to  your  care.  We 
want  not  our  young  brethren  to  be  bigots;  but  we 
charge  you  to  make  them  thorough  Presbyterians. 
To  you  also  is  committed  the  work  of  preparing  our 


THE    MINISTRY    WE    NEED.  31 

young  brethren  here,  for  the  duties  of  the  pastor,  and 
of  the  preacher  of  the  gospel.  The  brethren  associated 
with  30U  teach  them  theology,  and  the  history  of  the 
Church,  and  the  literature  of  the  Bible;  and  then 
pass  them  over  to  you,  to  be  prepared  by  you  for  ac- 
tual service  in  the  field.  If  others  furnish  the  wea- 
pons of  warfiire,  it  will  be  for  you  to  teach  their  use. 
Here  is  the  point  of  greatest  deficienc}-  in  the  present 
mode  of  educating  our  ministry.  In  everything  per- 
taining to  scholastic  education,  we  have  made  a  great 
advance  beyond  the  systems  of  our  fathers,  nor  do  we 
admit  that  our  existing  ministry,  as  some  would  assert, 
is  inferior  in  pastoral  or  pulpit  ability  to  any  genera- 
tion of  their  predecessors ;  but  we  have  not  made  ad- 
vance in  the  practical,  proportional  to  that  made  in 
the  scholastic,  departments  of  education.  And  unless 
we  mistake,  it  is  the  strong  desire  of  the  Directors  of 
this  Seminary,  and  of  the  Church,  that  the  dejDartment 
of  instruction  committed  to  you  should  assume,  at  once, 
its  due  importance.  The  churches  need  sympathizing 
pastors,  and  skilful,  who  are  fully  instructed  as  to  the 
duties  of  good  shepherds,  and  wlio  will  faithfully  dis- 
charge them.  The  good  pastor  should  be  as  the  good 
physician  who  watches  the  rise  and  progress  of  dis- 
eases— who  seeks  to  know  the  diseases  of  his  patients 
— who  wisely  prescribes  for  them — and  who  visits 
them  to  see  the  effect  of  his  remedies.  They  need 
also  preachers  J  not  merely  men  who  can  write  good 


\ 

32  THE    MINISTRY    WE     NEED. 


sermons — who  can  analyze  a  text — who  can  deliver  a 
discourse  with  a  correct  coldness  which  chills  the 
hearer ;  but  men  who  feel  that  the  object  of  preaching  the 
gospel  is  to  stir  the  hearts  of  others  by  the  great  truths 
which  fill  their  own, — that  the  preaching  of  the  gospel 
is  an  ordinance  upon  whose  improvement  or  neglect 
the  life  or  the  death  of  men  hangs  suspended.  The 
Church  needs  preachers  of  sermons,  not  readers  of  es- 
says,— men  who  prefer  the  walks  about  the  Sea  of  Galilee, 
and  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  and  over  Calvary, 
to  the  dreamy  regions  of  transcendentalism, — who 
would  as  soon  quote  Paul  as  Coleridge,  or  Carlyle, — 
who  prefer  the  obscurity  to  which  the  resolve  "  to  know 
nothing  but  Christ  and  him  crucified"  may  consign 
them,  to  the  notoriety  obtained  by  converting  the 
pulpit  into  a  stage  from  which  all  kinds  of  lectures  are 
delivered,  upon  all  kinds  of  subjects,  and  before  all 
kinds  of  people.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  "Young 
America,"  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  is  seeking  its 
way  into  the  pulpit.  It  prophesies  smooth  things. 
It  prefers  the  word  in  fashion,  for  the  "  word  in  sea,- 
son ;"  pleasing  generalities,  to  the  doctrines  "  piercing 
even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit ;"  un- 
ofiending  truisms,  or  shallow  sophisms,  to  unpalatable 
truths.  It  courts  popularity  by  every  art.  It  ex- 
changes old  creeds  for  new  ones;  and  is  evermore 
seeking  new  ways  of  reforming  men,  to  the  neglect  of 
holding  forth  the  doctrines  of  the  cross,  the  only  ade- 


THE    MINISTRY    WE    NEED.  33 

quale  means  of  reinstamping  on  our  world  the  image 
of  its  Creator.  The  Church,  the  world,  needs  a  minis- 
try penetrated  with  the  belief  that  the  salvation  of  the 
world  is  suspended  on  the  cross  of  Christ; — not  the 
cross  as  wrought  on  the  banners  of  armies — nor  as 
borne  by  crusaders^ — nor  as  glittering  from  the  steeples 
of  churches — nor  as  Avorked  on  the  slipper  of  a  pope 
— nor  as  braided  on  the  back  of  a  priest — nor  as 
dangling  on  the  bosom  of  a  young  miss,  or  a  vain 
bishop ;  but  the  cross,  preached  in  the  fulness  of  its 
doctrines,  as  the  power  of  God  to  the  salvation  of  all 
who  believe  them.  It  was  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
up  such  a  ministry  that  this  beloved  Institution  was 
founded,  and  it  is  to  aid  in  the  training  of  such  a 
ministry  that  you,  my  brother,  are  this  day  inaugurated 
as  professor.  And,  in  the  name  of  my  brethren,  I 
charge  you,  to  the  utmost  of  your  ability,  to  see  to  it 
that  these  ends  are  attained. 

It  is  Avith  no  cold  or  Mtering  words  we  welcome 
you  to  this  oldest  seat  of  theological  instruction  in  our 
Church.  We  hesitate  not  to  pledge  to  you  the  kind 
and  fraternal  co-operation  of  the  existing  Faculty, 
who  adorn  the  chairs  they  occupy  not  less  by  their 
amiable  virtues,  than  by  their  profound  learning. 
And  whilst  we  pledge  to  you  the  support  and  aflfection- 
ate  sympathy  of  our  Directors,  we  would  implore  that 
the  mantle  of  the  sainted  Alexander  and  Miller  may 
rest  upon  you ; — that,  like  them,  you  may  live,  bless- 


34  THE    MINISTRY    WE     NEED. 

ing  the  Church,  to  a  good  old  age — that  like  them  you 
may  die,  wearing  the  robes  of  your  office — and  that 
your  sun,  like  theirs,  may  set  without  a  cloud,  leaving 
behind  it  an  undying  radiance. 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY 

AN  INAUGURAL  DISCOURSE 


V 

REV.  ALEXANDER  T.  M'GILL,  D.D., 

PROFESSOR   OF   PASTORAL    THEOLOGT,    CHURCH    GOVERNMENT,    AND    THE    COM- 
POSITION   AND    DELIVERY    OF    SERMONS,    IN    THE    PRINCETON 
THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 


Fathers  and  Brethren  : 

It  is  a  result,  worthy  of  the  wisdom  which  has  ever 
directed  this  great  school  of  theology,  that,  on  the  de- 
mise of  the  fathers,  who  reared  it  from  the  beginning, 
there  should  be  assigned  to  their  successors,  a  distri- 
bution of  labour,  so  distinct  and  complete,  in  every 
department.  Fragmentary,  as  may  appear  to  some,  the 
'tradition  of  its  several  parts,  the  Chair,  to  which  I  am 
now  inducted,  is  as  perfectly  unique  and  definite  as 
any  other.  It  is  p-adical  Theology,  as  distinguished 
from  tlieoretical.  It  is  the  complement  of  that  perfect 
cycle,  in  which  exegetic,  systematic,  and  historic 
theology,  are  primary  and  main  departments,  in 
theological  training.  It  is  necessary  to  these,  as  art 
is  to  science,  as  speech  is  to  thought,  as  action  is  to 
life  and  vigour :  sharing  Avith  them,  also,  difficult  inves- 
tigations, which  demand  the  highest  culture  and  dis- 
cipline of  mind.  A  more  perfect  separation  to  itself  of 
what  logically  pertains  to  this  department,  was  never 


38  PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY. 

made,  in  any  age  or  country,  than  is  indicated  in  the 
title  you  have  given  it,  with  the  sanction  of  our  Gene- 
ral Assembly.  That  master  mind,  in  Scottish  educa- 
tion, Dr.  Campbell  of  Aberdeen,  sketches  the  four  de- 
partments of  a  complete  divinity  course,  precisely  as 
they  are  now  arranged  in  this  Institution ;  making 
systematic  and  polemic  theology  to  be  appropriately 
one,  and  the  whole  province  of"  instructing  and  govern- 
ing" to  be  another  department,  distinct  from  any  other, 
and  properly  denominated  practical. 

A  sixfold  division  of  subjects,  may  be  fairly  detailed, 
under  the  threefold  denomination  bestowed. 

I.  Pastoral  Theology,  strictly  considered ;  embra- 
cing the  theory  of  the  pastor's  office,  its  origin,  its  end, 
its  importance,  its  qualifications,  its  care  of  souls,  and 
discernment  of  their  diversities,  its  rights  and  relations, 
trials,  encouragements,  and  rewards.  The  warrant 
for  a  standing  ministry,  the  nature  and  degree  of  its 
separation  from  the  body  of  the  faithful ;  what  consti- 
tutes a  call  to  the  ministry,  what  maintains  the  evi- 
dence of  such  vocation,  and  cultivates  the  pre-eminent 
holiness  which  must  characterize  the  office, — these  are 
some  of  the  topics  that  belong  to  this  division,  and  in- 
volve many  questions  of  great  importance  and  diffi- 
culty, which  are  distinct  from  didactic  theology  ;  and 
yet  need  the  teacher,  as  much  as  any  other  study,  in 
the  work  of  preparation. 

II.  Homiletics ;  the  whole  range  of  sacred  rhetoric  j 


PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY.  39 

comprehending  as  much  instruction,  as  renowned  aca- 
demies in  ancient  times  were  instituted  to  impart,  with 
those  great  pecuharities  engrafted,  which  a  sabbath,  a 
sanctuary,  a  divine  word,  and  a  witnessing  omnipotence 
impress  on  the  eloquence  of  man.  It  proposes  to  fit 
the  orator  for  the  noblest  achievements  of  human 
speech ;  for  all  that  ancient  eloquence  ever  accomplished, 
and  immeasurably  more  ;  a  miracle,  which  man's  elo- 
quence never  dreamed  of  achieving, — the  creation, 
instrumentally,  of  a  new  nature,  instinct  with  regene- 
rate emotions,  to  which  its  appeals  may  be  ever  eJffec- 
tively  directed. 

Combined  with  the  composition  and  delivery  of  ser- 
mons, will  be  the  cultivation  of  criticism  and  review ; 
in  circumstances  the  most  favourable  for  imbuing  the 
critic  with  candour,  kindness,  and  fraternal  magna- 
nimity. 

The  faithfulness  and  delicacy,  the  unwearied  atten- 
tion, patient  labour,  and  careful  discrimination  of  indi- 
vidual varieties  of  taste  and  talent,  which  this  depart- 
ment demands,  have  led  the  founders  of  separate  theolo- 
gical seminaries  in  some  European  states,  to  limit  the 
number  of  students  admitted,  to  one-fourth  of  the  atten- 
dance customary  in  these  halls.  There,  however,  it  may 
be  seen,  that  too  great  a  reduction  to  one  standard  of 
public  preaching,  has  resulted  already,  from  the  minute- 
ness and  artificial  exactness  of  homiletic  discipline. 
Better  than  limitation  of  number  for  such  an  object, 


40  PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY. 

will  be  wakeful  concern,  to  promote  a  fair  development 
of  each  candidate's  own  native  talent  and  sectional 
taste;  which  the  minuteness  of  artificial  criticism  would 
tend  to  repress,  while  it  chastens.  We  would  have 
the  bold  and  ready  exhorter,  the  quick  and  cogent  de- 
bater, the  smooth  and  elegant  writer,  all  trained  to- 
gether ;  with  free  and  right  propulsion  on  the  part  of 
the  teacher,  and  by  the  interaction  of  their  own  diver- 
sified genius ;  under  the  conditions  of  a  vigilant  over- 
sight, and  firm  retrenchment  of  whatever  the  sensibili- 
ties of  true  Christian  refinement  would  anywhere  con- 
demn in  the  pulpit. 

III.  A  third  division  may  be  denominated  Cate- 
chetics ;  embracing  the  whole  variety  of  means,  for  the 
instruction  of  youth  and  ignorance,  other  than  public 
preaching.  These  were  never  so  many  and  important, 
as  at  the  present  day.  We  live  in  the  great  era  of 
means.  And  it  requires  even  painful  discrimination, 
to  guard  the  rights  of  the  pulpit,  amid  the  bustle  of 
platforms,  which  would  jostle  and  disparage  it,  in 
the  hurry  to  do  good.  We  would  train  our  ministers  to 
superlative  regard  for  "  the  foolishness  of  preaching," 
as  an  instrumentality  in  the  salvation  of  men ;  and  to 
confide  in  the  wisdom  of  other  instrumentalities,  only 
so  far  as  they  conduce  to  the  honour  and  success  of 
preaching,  by  the  living  minister. 

Hence  there  is  need  for  careful  indoctrination,  on  the 
subject  of  subsidiary  means ;  their  relative  importance; 


PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY.  41 

and  how  far  they  should  be  controlled  by  the  Church, 
in  her  appropriate  organization,  or  left  to  the  manage- 
ment of  voluntary  combinations. 

The  relation  of  the  Church  and  her  ministers  to  the 
great  work  of  general  education — the  pedagogics,  which 
a  preacher  may  properly  connect  with  his  holy  oflice, — 
and  that  entire  capacity  of  Christian  ministers,  which 
seems  to  have  been  set  off  distinctly,  in  primitive  times, 
and  times  of  Scottish  reformation,  under  the  denomina- 
tion of  teachers,  should  be  studied  here. 

So,  also,  the  missionary  field,  as  far  as  the  work  of 
imparting  elementary  instruction,  dealing  with  the 
superstitions  of  the  heathen,  and  managing  the  edu- 
cation of  their  children,  constitute  the  errand  of  mis- 
sionaries. 

Here  belong  lessons  for  the  guidance  of  young  minis- 
ters in  times  of  revival ;  w^hen  the  visitations  of  power 
from  on  high  call  them  to  multiplied  exertions  and 
peculiar  toils :  casuistry,  also,  for  all  times  and  seasons 
of  pastoral  life,  with  its  difficult  problems,  and  ba- 
lancing principles. 

Many  a  prelection  of  great  value  may  be  given,  under 
this  humble  head,  on  sabbath  schools,  Bible  classes, 
parochial  visits,  and  diets  of  examination  ;  provinces  of 
ministerial  work  and  skill,  which  cannot  be  valued  too 
highly ;  and  which  are  all  underlaid  with  principles, 
that  must  be  studied,  and  must  anticipate  experience, 
if  the  ardour  of  youth  would  enter  on  its  career  safely. 


42  PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY. 

and  turn  its  own  experience  to  wisdom  and  efficiency, 
without  the  loss  of  time  and  labour. 

A  normal  school  for  teachers,  whose  main  calling 
must  ever  give  them  paramount  influence  in  educating 
the  world — may  we  call  this  particular  branch  of 
practical  theology;  in  which  we  would  make  them 
know,  how  they  ought  to  behave  themselves,  in  the 
school,  the  convention,  the  author's  study,  the  editor's 
chair,  the  secretary's  desk,  the  agent's  itinerancy,  and 
the  colporteur's  broadcast  of  dissemination — all  of 
wdiich  may  appertain  to  "  the  house  of  God,  which  is 
the  Church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of 
the  truth." 

IV.  Liturgies,  may  be  called  a  fourth  division ; 
though  we  reluctantly  abide  by  the  title.  It  will  em- 
brace the  sabbath,  and  those  ordinances  of  religion, 
wdiich  are  distinctively  worship,  and  formal  solemnity. 
Puritanical  protest  will,  itself,  require  a  careful  study 
of  rites  and  ceremonies — to  know  what  they  are,  by 
the  sanction  of  God's  word,  what  the  authority  of  the 
Church,  in  relation  to  them,  and  what  the  proprieties 
of  their  actual  administration. 

With  the  ordinance  of  prayer,  must  be  studied  the 
question  of  liturgical  forms  ;  and  many  important  coun- 
sels and  directions.  With  that  of  singing  praises, 
questions  which  separate  branches  of  the  Presbyterian 
family ;  as  well  as  many  a  minor  topic  of  interest, 
within  our  own  denomination.    With  reading  the  word, 


PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY.  43 

that  emphasis,  which  interprets  witliout  comment,  and 
that  emotion,  which  becomes  the  words,  that  are,  them- 
selves, "  spirit  and  life." 

Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  afford  a  rich  domain, 
after  ceding  much  to  theoretic  theology,  on  every  side. 
Fasting  and  thanksgiving  will  connect  asceticism  for 
investigation ;  and  lead  us  to  distinguish  the  morti- 
fication, which  our  Saviour,  and  his  Apostles,  and  all 
men,  exercised  unto  godliness,  in  every  age,  have  prac- 
tised, from  that  mere  bodily  exercise,  and  voluntary 
humility,  and  austere  virginity,  with  which  the 
Catholic  Church  revolted  from  the  liberty  of  the  gospel, 
and  sunk  to  bondage,  terror,  and  death. 

The  ordinance  of  "  making  collections  for  the  poor, 
and  other  pious  purposes,"  which,  it  might  be  thought, 
any  deacon  would  understand,  without  elaborate  teach- 
ing, is  one  that  a  Chalmers  deemed  worthy  of  his  head 
and  heart  and  pen,  without  finding  its  problems  easily 
solved,  with  all  his  gigantic  power :  one  which  my  pre- 
decessor in  pastoral  theology,  loved  to  investigate  and 
teach,  with  the  dint  of  his  massive  intellect,  and  the 
deep  earnest  of  his  capacious  heart :  one  too,  which  our 
own  General  Assembly  has  just  devolved  on  theological 
professors,  with  strong  recommendation ;  under  the 
title  of  "  Systematic  Benevolence." 

V.  A  fifth  division  is  the  Church,  and  her  proper  visi- 
bility ;  the  true  theory  of  her  constitution,  membership, 
and  government.  This  itself  is  a  great  theme ;  compli- 


44  PEACTICAL    THEOLOGY. 

cated  with  the  most  important  discussions  of  the  age  ; 
and  presenting,  perhaps,  the  only  subject,  that  has  not 
yet  been  fairly  settled  in  the  suffrages  and  literature  of 
evangelical  Christendom. 

Opposite  extremes  of  error,  in  the  true  Church  of 
God,  have  probably  but  one  battle  more,  in  which  to 
perish ;  and  the  golden  moderation  of  the  gospel  may 
triumph  in  millennial  joy.  That  battle  is  to  be  here. 
The  last  thing  for  the  Church,  in  her  militancy,  to 
know  conclusively,  is  her  own  self  And,  it  would  be 
strange  anomaly,  indeed,  if  the  result  of  this  ultimate 
struggle,  be  the  attainment  of  a  mere  abnegation  -,  and 
the  triumph  of  true  moderation  consist,  in  restoring 
the  moderatism  of  a  feeble  and  supine  indifference  to 
any  particular  form. 

We  cannot  believe  it;  and,  therefore,  determine  to 
stand  on  the  watchtower,  of  a  proper  jus  divinum  for 
the  parity  of  ministers,  the  existence  of  ruling  elders, 
and  church  courts,  original  and  appellate. 

We  seek  to  place  on  higher  ground  than  man's 
expedience,  a  polity  like  this ;  which  gives  the  germ 
of  civil  and  political  freedom  to  the  nations,  and  con- 
serves, with  the  force  of  a  great  psychological  bond, 
which  history  has  ever  illustrated,  the  soundness  of 
redeeming  truth,  in  the  belief  and  practice  of  men. 
Though  not  honoured  with  instruction  from  the  lips  of 
Dr.  Miller,  his  type  of  Presbyterianism  was  impressed 
upon  my  youth  by  his  writings ;  and  the  researches  of 


PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY.  45 

years  in  the  study  of  Church  Government  have  only 
confirmed  that  early  tuition. 

In  refuting  the  figment  of  apostolic  succession  on 
the  one  hand,  and  no  succession  at  all  upon  the  other 
— the  continuance  of  priesthood,  in  a  particular  class, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  priesthood  in  the  people,  which 
repudiates  the  authority  of  office,  on  the  other— a  de- 
pository of  power  in  the  hands  of  individuals,  apart 
from  assemblies,  on  the  one  hand,  and  engrossment  of 
power  in  the  masses,  without  representation,  on  the 
other, — w^e  have  some  of  the  appropriate  exercises  of 
this  department ;  in  which  we  shall  seek  to  find  and 
hold  "the  present  truth." 

VI.  The  sixth  division  may  be  designated.  Ecclesiasti- 
cal Law  and  Discipline ;  the  diacritical  power  and  prac- 
tice of  the  Church.  It  is  not  Canon  Law,  the  ofEspring 
of  church  and  state  united,  which  rivalled  Civil  and 
Common  Law,  for  centuries,  as  a  pathway  to  fame  and 
influence ;  but  that  declarative  legislation  and  execu- 
tion of  law  in  the  Church  herself,  which  is  flir  more  a 
profound  and  profitable  study. 

The  statute  book  of  our  own  particular  denomina- 
tion, containing  so  many  wise  enactments,  and  valua- 
ble interpretations  of  the  constitution,  and  important 
regulations  of  that  vast  machinery,  for  doing  good, 
which  employs  the  alms  and  prayers  and  abilities  of 
more  than  2000  ministers,  and  200,000  members, 
ought  now  to  be  taught  with  diligence  to  the  rising 


46  PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY. 

ministry.  And  still  more,  the  principles  and  book  of 
Discipline,  which  embody  so  much  of  Christian  ethics, 
as  well  as  forms  of  justice,  that  symbolize  the  doctrines 
of  human  right. 

To  construe  offences  fairly,  to  conduct  the  process 
righteously,  to  graduate  the  conviction  justly,  to  inflict 
the  censure  faithfully,  and  restore  the  penitent 
offender  seasonably,  require  a  cultivation  which  must 
be  one  of  liberal  study,  as  well  as  sound  judgment  and 
careful  experience.  Judges  of  both  law  and  fact, 
whose  decisions  involve  the  honour  and  safety  of  the 
Saviour's  Kingdom,  and  depend  so  much  upon  their 
manifest  propriety,  for  any  force  and  credit  among  men, 
must  be  learned  in  the  law;  and  qualified  to  uphold 
the  judiciary  of  our  spiritual  courts,  in  comparison  with 
that  of  secular  courts ;  or,  in  a  great  nation  like  ours, 
of  jurists  and  jurymen,  the  law  of  Christ  will  be  dis- 
paraged, if  not  entirely  despised. 

Such  is  an  outline,  of  the  department  proper,  to  my 
apprehension.  The  singularly  excellent  usage,  in  this 
Institution,  of  making  the  Bible  a  textbook,  to  be 
studied  exegetically,  in  every  department,  with  refe- 
rence to  the  subjects  belonging  to  each,  respectively, 
will  be  followed,  with  delight ;  and  interesting  portions, 
historical  and  epistolary,  may  fall  to  this  practical 
chair,  for  critical  and  thorough  examination. 

Other  studies,  which  are  ancillary,  will  not  be  ne- 
glected;   such  as  lead  to  the  knowledge   of   human 


► 


PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY.  47 

nature— spiritual  anthropology— man  as  debased  or 
developed  in  every  age,  by  the  religious  sentiment,  as 
it  has  been  called,  under  its  various  manifestations. 

Practical  Theology  must  ever  attempt  to  explain  the 
contact  and  confluence  of  religion  with  civilization. 
And,  though  many  questions,  greatly  agitated  else- 
where, respecting  the  relation  of  civil  magistracy  to 
sacred  things,  are  of  little  interest  to  this  country,  they 
are  of  much  importance  to  our  missionaries  ;  and  many 
yet  remain,  along  this  Hne,  ever  important  to  ourselves, 
which  can  not  be  understood  by  superficial  thought  or 
observation. 

It  was  only  by  the  most  learned  of  our  ministers, 
and  not  without  help  from  this  hall  of  theological  educa- 
tion, that  the  true  doctrine  of  '"■  the  higher  law,"  came 
to  be  fliirly  understood,  on  a  late  memorable  occasion  of 
national  disturbance.     And  it  will  require  yet  a  labori- 
ous culture,  in  the  seats  of  sacred  science,  to  qualify 
the  ministers  of  reconciliation,  for  a  judicious  exercise 
of  their  ability  and  influence,  on  the  heaving  masses, 
which  may  be  tempted,  in  the  day  of  passion,  to  tear 
in  pieces,  the  most  beautiful  result  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion,— the  constitution  of  this  great  republic.  Questions 
of  vital  concernment  to   the   welftire  of  our  nation, 
continually  press  upon  such  a  department  as  this;  and 
it  is  not,  perhaps,  extravagant  to  say,  that  a  single 
question  of  discipline,  in  our  own  church,  if  it  had  been 
settled,  as  other  churches  have  settled  it,  or  left  it  un- 


48  PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY. 

settled,  would  have  already  severed  the  cords  of  this 
American  Union. 

Great  conflicts  are  coming;  if  not  in  relation  to 
social  and  domestic  institutions,  certainly,  in  relation 
to  a  vast  political  system,  which  is  ecclesiastical,  in  its 
history  and  claims ;  and  must  be  countervailed  on  the 
arena  of  ecclesiastical  discussion ;  and  there  is  not  one 
division  of  this  study,  which  may  not  be  made  an  ar- 
moury, for  the  preparation  of  champions  in  the  contest 
with  Popery.  When  we  teach,  that  the  pastor  is  not 
a  priest,  but  a  minister  of  Jesus — that  preaching  truth 
from  the  oracles  of  God,  in  the  language  of  the  people, 
is  to  be  his  principal  function — that  the  Bible,  in  some 
vernacular  tongue,  should  be,  first  and  last,  at  home 
and  at  school,  the  handbook  of  all  catechumens — that 
forms  of  worship,  which  have  no  warrant  in  the  word 
of  God,  for  their  use,  are  to  be  discarded,  as  the  mere 
commandments  of  men — that  all  gradation  of  rank  in 
the  ministry  of  Christ,  is  unscriptural  and  unjust — that 
the  true  administration  of  discipline,  must  aim  to  make 
the  church  visible  and  invisible  entirely  coincident — we 
touch  the  whole  circle  of  Practical  Theology,  and 
subvert  the  whole  fabric  of  Papal  idolatry. 

But,  far  within  this  margin  of  our  holy  religion,  the 
department  of  which  we  speak,  deals  with  central 
interest,  and  claims  a  memorial  of  peculiar  renown. 
The  ^'  applied  science"  of  theological  study,  it  governs 
all   the   resources,  which   any  other   department  can 


PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY.  49 

furnish,  with  adaptation  to  the  end  of  the  whole,  the 
glory  of  God,  in  the  salvation  of  men ;  and  must  have 
therefore,  all  the  value,  which  this  proximity  to  such 
an  end  confers  upon  means.  Think,  of  marshalling 
the  educated  energies  of  scores,  in  the  ardor  of  youth, 
and  vigor  of  high  discipline,  on  the  verge  of  such  a 
field,  as  this  wonder-working  age  is  opening  daily  to 
"  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God !"  Think,  of 
but  one  lesson,  the  first  and  most  obvious,  which  this 
function  must  impress  on  such  instrumentalities — that 
of  true  consecration,  the  call  of  God,  the  crucifixion  of 
self,  the  value  of  souls,  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  that 
holiness  of  heart  and  life,  without  which  this  ministry 
were  usurpation,  and  the  whole  acquirements  of 
theoretic  theology  a  perversion,  of  deadly  Ijane  to  the 
Church  and  the  world ! 

From  the  earliest  germ  of  revealed  religion,  we  may 
scan  a  seminal  importance  in  this  branch  of  sanctified 
learning.  Primeval  divinity  was  almost  entirely 
comprehended  here.  Catechetics  and  Liturgies  were 
the  cyclopaedia  of  sacred  science,  from  Adam  to  Christ. 
And  where  is  the  Christian  minister,  who  does  not 
repair  to  the  orators,  and  bards,  and  historians,  of 
regular  and  irregular  attendance  on  the  schools  of  the 
prophets  during  that  long  period  of  time,  for  the 
richest  illustrations  of  doctrine  and  duty,  with  which 
to  adorn  the  pulpit  now  ? 

The  Great  Teacher  himself,  within  his  college  of 

4 


50  PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY. 

disciples,  dwelt  mostly  on  themes  of  Pastoral  Theology 
and  Church  Government ;  on  a  call  to  the  ministry, 
and  its  qualifications,  its  cross,  and  its  crown ;  on  the 
nature  of  his  kingdom,  its  separation  from  the  state, 
its  parity  of  ministers,  its  bench  of  elders,  and  even 
its  method  of  process  for  the  exercise  of  discipline ;  not 
omitting,  by  any  means,  important  hints  in  his  own 
example  and  precept,  for  the  composition  and  delivery 
of  sermons.  His  valedictory  charge  on  a  mountain  of 
Galilee,  where  all  the  disciples  were  present,  and  five 
hundred  besides,  was  arranged  with  so  much  care,  and 
delivered  in  so  significant  a  manner,  that  the  great 
commission  fell  upon  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  as  well 
as  the  shoulders  of  particular  men ;  to  bar  the  roots  of 
religious  pedigree,  and  provide  for  emergencies  of  re- 
formation, while  the  world  endures. 

The  Apostles  followed  the  example  of  their  Master; 
all  of  them  abounding  in  lessons  of  practical  theology. 
Whole  epistles  were  written  for  textbooks  in  this 
department;  and  their  author,  the  great  polemic  of 
that  primitive  and  sainted  school,  has  mingled  on 
every  page  of  his  other  epistles,  ecclesiastical  and 
pastoral  lessons,  with  his  profound  elucidation  of  doc- 
trines. 

Passing  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  whose  scanty  litera- 
ture is  nearly  all  in  this  department  only;  the  first 
theological  seminary  of  the  Christian  Church  began  at 
Alexandria  as  a  catechetical  school ;  and  was  probably 


PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY.  61 

conducted   altogether  within    the  range  of   practical 
theology,  in  its  exercise  and  studies. 

In  the  palmy  age  of  Patristic  Theology,  when  sys- 
tematic divinity  had  not  yet  shapen  a  creed,  and 
church  history  was  only  beginning  its  annals,  and 
polemics  were  little  more  than  Catholic  anathema  on 
heresy,  the  noblest  ministers,  whether  Greek  or  Latin, 
vied  in  the  advanced  cultivation  of  this  study.  Augus- 
tine, Chrysostom,  and  Cyril,  furnished  manuals,  which 
may  yet  be  studied  with  profit;  not  to  mention  the 
labours  of  Jerome  and  others,  in  the  department  of 
church  government  and  discipline. 

The  darkness  and  torpor  of  succeeding  ages  could 
pall  the  life  of  Christianity  everywhere  but  here. 
Pulsations  of  power  might  always  be  felt  in  the  hands 
of  this  religion.  Asceticism,  with  its  ceaseless  activity 
of  change,  images,  investitures,  offices,  patronage,  pil- 
grimage, councils,  and  crusades,  —  everything  that 
tumultuated  in  the  life  of  Mediaeval  Christendom, 
belonged,  in  some  way,  to  this  practical  domain ;  and 
shows  how  vastly  important  it  must  be,  to  guide  such 
irrepressible  vitality  with  careful  and  true  enlighten- 
ment. 

When  that  great  revival  of  Christianity,  the  Refor- 
mation, awakened  men  to  the  light  of  the  Bible,  Exe- 
gesis, Didactics,  Polemics,  and  History,  were  suddenly 
restored  to  their  usefulness  and  rights;  but  the  imper- 
fections of  men  could  not  escape  the  weakness  of  ex- 


52  PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY. 

treme  reaction.  The  greatest  fault  of  Luther  and 
Calvin's  age,  was  the  disparagement  of  practical 
theology ;  arising  from  the  fact,  that  such  theology,  in 
its  perversion,  had  been  everything  of  religion,  under 
the  darkness  and  tyranny  from  which  they  had  just 
revolted.  But  for  such  a  tacit  disparagement,  Luther 
would  not  have  left  his  Church,  burdened  with  cere- 
monies, benighted  on  the  doctrine  of  a  sacrament,  and 
deformed  with  the  most  diversified  accidents  of  polity 
and  discipline.  And,  but  for  the  same  disparagement, 
though  less,  incomparably,  Calvin  would  not  have  left 
his,  a  mixture  of  form  and  opinion,  so  mottled,  that 
presbytery  and  prelacy,  charity,  bigotry,  and  latitu- 
dinarianism,  could  have  claimed,  with  any  colour  of 
right,  the  same  denomination. 

The  reaction  of  Popery  punished  the  former;  the 
troubles  of  Puritans  punished  the  latter.  And  it  was 
in  the  next  century,  an  age  of  giants,  the  seventeenth 
and  greatest,  in  the  chronicles  of  modern  time,  that 
practical  theology  regained  its  just  consideration,  and 
took  its  high  place  in  the  literature  and  schools  of  our 
holy  reformed  religion.  Baxter  and  Owen,  and  Hen- 
derson and  Baillie,  and  Rutherford  and  Gillespie, 
and  Selden  and  Lightfoot,  and  Claude  and  Grotius, 
and  a  host  of  others,  bestowed  their  energies  on  this 
department  with  peculiar  fondness ;  and  full  three- 
fourths  of  the  time  employed  by  the  Westminster 
divines  to  prepare  the  greatest  monument  of  unin- 


PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY.  53 

spired  talent  which  the  world  has  seen,  our  Confession 
of  Faith  and  its  Catechism,  were  engrossed  with  the 
subjects  of  this  study ;  for  which,  indeed,  that  vene- 
rable body  was  primarily  convened.  Worthy  of  the 
most  favoured  Church,  that  ever  adopted  the  West- 
minster Confession,  and  worthy  of  the  most  favoured 
land  that  ever  obtained  from  its  divinely  sanctioned 
scheme  of  polity,  the  model  of  well-regulated  liberty, 
is  the  discretion,  with  which,  for  the  first  time  in 
Presbyterian  history,  you  have  made  it  completely 
one,  and  given  it  a  separate  chair. 

Many  an  illustration,  from  the  decline  of  Presbytery 
in  England,  its  trials  in  Scotland,  its'  extinction  in 
France,  its  transplantation  to  America,  and  vigor- 
ous growth  on  our  shores,  might  be  adduced  to  show 
the  importance  of  our  study,  and  enhance  the  great- 
ness of  its  memorial.  History,  to  Avhich  my  labours 
have  been  much  devoted  heretofore,  and  in  which,  as 
a  great  framework,  every  important  part  of  human 
knowledge  may  be  set  and  included,  will  come  to  my 
aid,  as  peculiarly  and  indispensably  subservient. 

That  such  a  province  of  sacred  learning  should  be 
left  to  the  mere  observation  and  experience  of  pupils, 
or  to  a  discipleship  with  men  of  practical  eflicicncy 
and  success,  without  other  qualifications  for  teaching, 
must  be  regarded  as  a  grave  mistake,  if  we  have  not 
wholly  mistaken  the  nature  and  scope  of  this  office. 
Rather  say,  that  imitation  is  better  than  science;  in 


54  PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY. 

teacliing  the  elements  of  any  liberal  art ;  that  empi- 
ricism is  better  than  study,  in  teaching  the  work  of 
any  other  profession,  than  that  the  line  of  any  one 
pastor's  experience  is  better  than  great  principles, 
embodied  by  careful  induction  from  many  expe- 
riences, in  teaching  the  lessons  of  practical  theology. 
Could  a  city  pastor,  merely  from  his  own  particular 
life,  however  long  and  fiivoured  in  the  pastoral  care, 
teach  the  student  how  to  behave  himself  in  a  country 
charge,  or  at  a  missionary  station  ?  "  The  care  of 
souls,"  says  Vinet,  a  great  name  in  pastoral  theology, 
"  will  not  be  the  same  in  city  and  country,  in  a  farm- 
ing and  a  manufacturing  district,  in  the  bosom  of  a 
population  of  simple  manners,  and  with  refined  and 
eifeminate  people." 

Besides,  the  man  of  right  conduct  for  himself,  is 
not  always  the  man  to  explain  even  his  own  conduct, 
for  the  benefit  of  others.  In  daily  intercourse,  we 
often  find  an  incapacity  of  practical  men  to  give  intel- 
ligible reasons  for  the  success  with  which  they  direct 
their  own  business,  and  meet  the  changes  and  emer- 
gencies of  life;  and  in  the  most  elevated  spheres  of 
magisterial  vocation,  the  same  ineptitude  has  been 
frequent  and  striking.  It  was  said  of  a  renowned 
executive,  in  our  own  country,  that  no  man  ever  ruled 
with  more  unerring  direction  in  the  right  way,  and 
no  man  ever  blundered  with  more  entire  confusion,  in 


PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY.  55 

giving  reasons  for  his  conduct,  as  a  ruler.  So,  we 
apprehend,  the  discreet  and  successful  pastor  may  be 
found,  who  seldom  fails  to  turn  the  exigencies  of  his 
great  vocation  to  the  very  best  account,  in  the  tact  of 
his  own  administration,  and  yet  is  disqualified,  by  the 
cast  of  his  mind,  and  the  habitudes  of  office,  as  he  fills 
it,  dealing  so  much  in  the  concrete,  for  that  quick 
analysis  and  broad  rationale,  which  must  furnish  the 
learner  with  principles  that  govern  the  office,  and  fit 
him  to  meet,  with  versatile  application,  stations  of  life 
and  duties,  with  which  his  teacher  has  never  been 
conversant.  All  education  were  stagnant,  if  the  tui- 
tion of  great  principles  be  not  a  pioneer  to  particular 
experience. 

While,  therefore,  we  bow  to  the  practical  pastor,  as 
the  noblest  of  human  characters,  and  eagerly  seek,  at 
all  times,  to  learn  from  his  lips,  the  art  of  caring  for 
souls,  there  may  be  an  extravagant  estimate  of  prac- 
tice alone,  as  a  qualification  for  teaching  the  rising 
ministry,  to  the  disadvantage  of  any  department ;  and 
especially  those  great  theoretic  departments,  which 
demand  the  studies  of  a  lifetime,  intensely  given,  to 
furnish  a  proper  defence  of  the  gospel,  against  the 
erudite  and  subtle  enemies,  which  now  "  come  in  like 
a  flood."  Yet,  in  this  particular  Chair,  though  its 
themes  might  well  demand  illimitable  stores  of  erudi- 
tion, and  cannot  be  handled  by  merely  empirical  tact, 


56  PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY. 

experience  is  indispensable;  experience  of  the  world, 
the  pastor's  office,  and  the  teacher's  art.  Without 
having  had  a  fair  and  full  experiment  of  pastoral  life, 
and  surpassing  fondness  for  its  duties,  along  with  pre- 
vious training  of  many,  a  kind  in  common  life,  in- 
cluding the  brief  pursuit  of  another  profession,  which 
brings  a  man  most  fully  into  contact  with  human 
nature,  as  well  as  fits  him  somewhat  for  the  last  two 
branches  here  detailed,  my  own  consent  to  adventure 
on  this  high  office  could  not  have  been  obtained. 

And  yet,  the  first  idea,  in  premeditating  an  address 
for  this  occasion,  was  to  make  apology  for  being  here, 
and  venturing  to  touch  a  responsibility,  which  was 
shared  by  Dr.  Alexander  and  Dr.  Miller,  both,  in  part. 
Assuredly,  it  is  not  done,  without  a  diffidence,  which 
trembles  to  despondency  at  times.  But,  we  owe  it  to 
those  illustrious  men  themselves,  not  to  speak  of  the 
Church  they  loved  better  than  themselves,  that  the 
generation  they  instructed  and  left  behind  them, 
should  not  allow  the  greatness  of  their  names  to 
injure  the  work  of  their  hands,  or  cause  an  Institu- 
tion, for  which  they  laboured  and  prayed  through 
forty  years,  to  be  declined  and  forsaken,  because  there 
is  no  one  to  sustain  the  position  as  they  did.  There 
must  be  a  sacrifice,  just  here.  And  is  it  not  worth 
the  martyrdom  of  half  a  score  of  men,  so  far  as  repu- 
tation is  concerned,  to  fill  a  breach  like  this;  and 


PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY,  57 


carry  on  God's  work  in  this  venerable  scat,  through 
all  disparagement;  perpetuating,  in  some  way,  a  monu- 
ment so  precious,  of  their  toil  and  consecration  ? 

Exchanging,  at  what  seemed  to  be  a  wish  of  the 
Church  at  large,  as  well  as  peculiar  indications  of  my 
Master's  will,  the  pride  of  remaining  in  a  place  built 
up  for  myself  in  one  sense,  where  the  demands  of  the 
position  and  my  own  qualifications  were  supposed  to 
be  commensurate,  for  the  peril  of  this  new  responsi- 
bility, of  standing  in  a  place  already  built  by  others — 
and  more  than  built — adorned,  with  living  talent, 
which  enlightened  Christendom  confesses,  and  with 
festooned  memories,  which  might  well  oppress  the 
spirit  of  any  successor,  who  is  not  led  by  a  simple 
sense  of  duty,  I  come  to  relinquish  self  on  the  altar 
of  this  service ;  knowing,  that,  even  my  preference  of 
this  Chair  to  any  other,  imposes  a  more  aggravated 
obligation. 

Indulge  me  then,  Fathers  and  Brethren,  with  kind 
extenuation.  "We  are  not  always  most  successful  in 
the  duties  which  we  fancy  most;  and  in  the  very 
scheming,  which  I  make  at  this  inauguration,  a  field 
of  overpowering  magnitude  spreads  itself  before  mo. 
God  only,  with  his  own  rich  grace  and  abounding 
mercy,  can  make  me  equal  to  the  work. 

And  whatever  be  the  results  of  this  accession,  or 
any  other,  from  this  time,  one  thing  is  obvious,  that, 


58  PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY. 

we  may  not  expect  the  same  superiority  of  numbers, 
as  in  times  that  are  past.  It  is,  manifestly,  the  will 
of  our  Church,  that  her  sons  be  distributed  among 
many  theological  nurseries;  and  that  the  usefulness 
of  this  original  Seminary  be  maintained,  in  the  high 
standard  and  faithful  care  of  its  instruction,  rather 
than  a  throng  of  students  in  attendance.  Nor  has 
this  ordination  been  made  against  your  own  will, 
either  as  guardians  or  benefactors  of  this  Institution. 
"  The  rivalship  of  numbers,"  it  has  been  well  said,  by 
one  of  yourselves,  "  is  unworthy  of  these  seats  of 
sacred  science.  Numbers  may  ruin  us."  Your  own 
best  patrons  have  aided,  with  munificent  help,  as  I 
can  attest  with  gratitude,  even  the  nearest  competi- 
tion for  students,  until  it  is  at  length,  completely 
established,  and  claims  a  common  interest  in  almost 
every  part  of  our  field.  The  reduction  of  numbers, 
then,  we  consent  to,  as  no  evil  or  decline,  when  it 
redounds  to  the  prosperity  of  sister  institutions,  and 
does  not  indicate  a  loss  at  large  to  the  work  of  "  the 
harvest." 

And,  for  the  goodwill,  with  which  the  friends  of 
this  Seminary  have  aided  others  in  their  efforts  to 
become  similar  centres  of  attraction;  for  the  unri- 
valled benefactions,  that  she  has  shed  over  all  this 
land  and  other  lands ;  for  the  honour  of  that  peerless 
unity,  which  binds  our  beloved  Church  together  in 


i 


\ 

PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY.  69 

conspicuous  harmony ;  and,  above  all,  for  tlic  glory  of 
that  Blessed  One,  whose  we  are,  and  whom  we  serve, 
compactly  in  the  common  salvation,  may  we  not  hope, 
that  the  loan  of  love  will  be  repaid ;  and  that  these 
halls  will  ever  be  prospered  with  the  best  wishes  and 
constant  praj-ers  of  all  the  churches  that  have  been 
gladdened  with  streams  from  this  fountain,  and  all 
the  seminaries  that  have  been  profited,  by  its  issues  of 
living  ministers  and  lasting  literature?  Cheered  by 
this  hope,  so  reasonable,  yet,  confiding  only  in  God, 
the  God  of  our  fiithers,  we  give  ourselves  wholly  to 
do  what  our  hands  find  to  do;  prepared,  alike,  to 
suffer  and  rejoice,  as  He  may  mete  the  evil  and  the 
good,  which  are  mingled  in  any  allotment  of  life. 

"  But,  this  I  say,  brethren,  the  time  is  short." 
Death,  which  made  a  desolation  here,  by  removing 
the  patriarchs  to  their  seats  in  "the  general  assembly 
and  church  of  the  firstborn"  in  heaven,  reverses  with 
amazing  persistency,  the  roll  of  ministers;  and  the 
young,  or  the  mature  at  the  meridian  of  usefulness 
are  called  away,  Avith  a  frequenc}-,  which  is  without 
parallel,  in  the  memory  of  this  generation.  How  soon 
may  we,  also,  that  labour  to  recruit  those  wasting 
bands,  on  the  high  places  of  the  field,  fall  at  the  quiet 
fountain ;  where,  indeed,  from  the  venerable  Matthews 
to  the  lamented  Sampson,  almost  every  year  is  laying 
some  Professor  in  the  dust.     Honoured  Directors  yet 


60  PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY. 

live,  whose  hands  have  managed  this  ancient  Institu- 
tion from  its  origin,  and  whose  vigour  in  this  high 
trust  is  not  yet  abated.  Long  may  they  Unger  to 
counsel  and  befriend  us.  But  the  burden  of  their 
years  and  the  frailty  of  their  juniors  admonish  us, 
that  the  sequel  of  our  history  here  will  be  one  of 
quicker  challenge,  in  the  progress  of  mortality.  God 
grant  us  all,  "  mercy  to  be  faithful," — "  faithful  unto 
death,"  that  we  may  obtain  "  a  crown  of  life." 


PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMIMEY. 


FACULTY. 
REV.  CHARLES  HODGE,  D.D., 

PROFESSOR    OF    EXEGETICAL,    DIDACTIC,    AND   POLEMIC    THEOLOGY. 

REV.  JOSEPH  ADDISON  ALEXANDER,  D.D., 

PROFESSOR    OF    BIBLICAL   AND    ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY. 

REV.  WILLIAM  HENRY  GREEN,  D.D., 

PROFESSOR   OF    ORIENTAL   AND    BIBLICAL   LITERATURE. 

REV.  ALEXANDER  T.  M'GILL,  D.D., 

PROFESSOR    OF    PASTORAL    THEOLOGY,    CHURCH    GOVERNMENT,    AND    Till 
COMPOSITION    AND    DELIVERY    OF    SERMONS. 


SUMMARY  OF  STUDIES. 


FIRST    YEA] 


Hebrew  Language. 
Exegetical  Study  of  the  Scriptures. 
Biblical  Criticism. 

Biblical  Antiquities  and  Sacred  Chro- 
nology. 


Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. 

Mental  and  Moral  Science. 

Evidences  of  Natural  and  Revealed 
Religion. 

Sacred  Rhetoric. 


iECOND    YEAR. 


Exegetical  Study  of  the  Hebrevr  and 

Greek  Scriptures  (continued). 
Didactic  Theology. 


Ecclesiastical  History. 
Pastoral    Theology   and    Missionary 
Instruction. 


THIRD    YEAR. 


Exegetical  Study  of  the   Scriptures 

(continued). 
Didactic  Theology  (continued). 
Polemic  Theology. 


Church  Government. 
Homiletics,  Composition  and  Delivery 
of  Sermons. 


The  students  of  the  Seminary  are  required  to  deliver  orations;  and 
to  exhibit  compositions  as  often  as  is  judged  expedient  by  the  Professors. 

The  Resident  Grraduates  have  the  privilege  of  attending  on  the  lec- 
tures of  all  the  classes. 


TERMS  OF  ADMISSION. 


Every  person  applying  for  admission  into  the  Seminary  must  pro- 
duce satisfactory  written  testimonials  that  he  possesses  good  natural 
talents,  and  is  of  a  piiident  and  di.>^creet  deportment;  that  he  is  in  full 
communion  with  some  regular  church;  and  that  he  has  passed  through 
a  regular  course  of  Academic  study;  or,  wanting  this,  he  must  submit 
himself  to  an  examination  on  the  branches  of  literature  usually  taught 
in  such  a  course. 

When  a  student  has  been  received  under  the  care  of  a  Presbytery, 
and  has  passed  his  examination  on  the  studies  usually  pursued  in  Col- 
lege with  approbation,  a  certificate  from  the  Presbytery  declaring  this 
fact,  is  receiyed  as  sufficient  to  answer  every  requisition  in  regard  to 
testimonials. 

When  a  student  who  has  been  connected  with  any  Theological 
Seminary,  seeks  admission  into  this,  he  must  produce  testimonials  of 
his  good  standing,  and  regular  dismission,  before  he  can  be  received. 

The  proper  time  for  entering  the  Seminary  is  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Seminary  year,  which  begins  on  the  first  Thursday  of 
September.  It  is  important  that  students  should  be  present  at  the 
opening  of  the  session. 

The  students,  in  addition  to  the  use  of  libraries  attached  to  the 
Seminary,  have  access  to  that  of  the  College,  and  on  application  to 
the  several  Professors  of  that  Institution,  can  have  the  privilege  of 
attending  lectures  on  Natural  Philosophy,  Chemistry,  and  Natural 
History. 

Gentlemen  well  qualified  to  teach  the  (lorman  and  French  lan- 
guages are  resident  here,  and  will  give  instruction  in  those  branches 
to  such  students  as  desire  it  at  their  own  expense. 

There  is  no  charge  made  cither  for  Tuition  or  Room  rent;  but  each 
student  pays  810  per  annum  to  the  "(Jeneral  Expense  Fund,"  the 
object  of  which  is  to  defray  the  contingent  expenses  of  the  Institu- 
tion; and  §1  per  annum  for  the  use  of  the  library.     Students  who 


64 

may  prefer  rooming  out  of  the  Seminary  building,  can  be  accommo- 
dated in  the  village  and  vicinity,  in  which  case  they  pay  but  85  to  the 
"Expense  Fund." 

Indigent  students  are  aided  either  by  the  G-eneral  Assembly's 
"Board  of  Education,"  or  the  funds  of  the  Seminary. 

The  expense  of  board  in  the  Refectory  varies  from  81  45  to  81  75 
per  week.  Board  may  be  obtained  in  private  families  at  from  81  50 
to  82  50  per  week.  Expenses  for  fuel,  from  86  to  810  per  annum. 
Washing,  88. 

There  is  but  one  vacation  in  the  year,  which  commences  the  second 
Thursday  in  May,  and  terminates  on  the  first  Thursday  in  September. 


DATE  DUE 

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